Battered, Bruised and Beaten

Take a look at certain athletes. They’re muscular, with low body fat and in extreme condition. They make the rest of us look like slugs. But then one of them drops dead, and another, and then another. A few more end up with brain damage. Others are decrepit as they age, in spite of their outward appearance, due to endless trauma to the brain and body. In other words, pull back the veil and what you find is a beautiful package but severely damaged goods, even if the damage isn’t always visible.America is like that. A beautiful package, but just beneath the surface, is a ramshackle carcass, held together by tape and bandages. It may require X-ray vision to see the extent of the damage—or, at the very least, a solid working knowledge of what happens when certain kinds of stressful behaviors become the norm. But, a good doctor doesn’t need to take X-rays to know that hammering joints and limbs endlessly will take its toll. The body simply wasn’t built for that kind of sustained battering.Likewise, any country that prints too much money, for too long, will destroy its economy. The first thing that will happen is their money will be worth less and less, which leads to inflation, so everything costs more. Unless you’re rich in America, we all feel it. The rent goes up, as does the cost of food, and with it, we are all made poorer. The way that many people deal with it is simple, multiple generations of family members live together to make ends meet, and people run up their credit card bills trying to prop up the rest.Thankfully, interest rates are low, so you can keep borrowing without feeling the pain, at least initially. But, even that’s an illusion. The reason that interest rates are so low is the nation’s central bank prints money in an effort to drive those rates down, in the hopes of spurring economic activity. If The Federal Reserve (our central bank) didn’t do this, there would be a lot less money to lend. And, what money there was, would cost a lot more to borrow, which would be disastrous for the economy, leading to a deep depression. What we have is a circular problem. Print money and keep interest rates artificially low until the economy is addicted, at which point you can’t reverse the process without causing an economic collapse.Simply put, if you look past the facade and you’re modestly astute—economically speaking—things don’t look very good. America, like a steroid addicted athlete, is a battered carcass with a beautiful covering. And, if things don’t change pretty drastically, there will be nowhere to go but down.This has been a long time coming and president after president has worked this shell game, right along with our central bank, to keep it all going. Add to that, 1.75 million immigrants a year who come into the country, who are poorer, less educated, and far more likely to use a range of government poverty programs, and no one should wonder why the few at the top are making out like bandits, while the masses at the bottom are getting kicked in the teeth. This isn’t about being anti-immigrant. Nonsense! It’s about policies that benefit the few, not the many—and cheap labor is a part of the scam.Let me be clear, I am not advocating new welfare programs for the poor and middle class. I am advocating a free and fair system that will create jobs—and once the surplus of labor evaporates, wages will rise and people will have real money. Not borrowed money in the form of debts owed to bankers.I assure you, Hillary will change none of this. This is not 1992. We are much further down the road than were then, and what once worked, at the beginning stages of this brave new financial world, no longer will. That’s why I’m voting for Trump. He has never been bought and sold as a politician, plus he won the nomination by a miracle of sorts, as people bucked the system and held the Republican Party’s feet to the fire, completely against their will, mind you. Trump is even more despised by the Democrats in spite of having been one most of his life.Does this mean that Trump will be an effective president? In reality, I don’t know. He is a wild card. But, what I do know, is that Hillary is the status quo, meaning, I will play the cards I’ve got and pray for the best. It’s certainly better than nothing. And make no mistake, Hillary is as close to nothing, as you can get.